How to remove VERY long-standing perspiration stains from silk?

50sVintage

50sVintage

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Guilty! My and/or the dry cleaner's failure or inability to thoroughly remove perspiration from a silk Halston shirt dress from the mid-70s has left me with a dress too precious to toss but not usable in its present state.
The underarm stains on the mint green silk seem to have expanded exponentially during the past 30 years the piece has been in storage. Since I never put anything away without first cleaning it, it appears that I or the dry cleaner just didn't do a good job at the time.

What is the best way to remove, or at least lessen, the stains?

Thanks in advance!

Mia

70s Halston silk dress mint green (1).JPG


70s Halston silk dress mint green (2).JPG
 
I have had success removing perspiration stains from cottons and cotton blends, even very old stains, by mixing non-chlorine bleach with an equal amount of amonia. Sponge on and wait, rinse and repeat. I have some success on silk, too, by being very careful. Perspiration stains on silk seem to cause an actual chemical change in the original color, especially in my experience on blues and greens, so you may have limited success. The non-clorox bleach I have used was a hypochlorite bleach. There are several brands including Chlorox. Be careful and read, read contents to be sure you are not getting a chlorine bleach. Good luck.
Marian
 
Jonathan said:
Those are pretty severe discolourations. You would probably be better with redyeing it, or try stripping the dye first.
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Jonathan, thanks, I was already thinking about redyeing it though have had experience where the new color appears differently in the stained areas so it's exchanging one discoloration for another. The idea of stripping the dye did not occur to me. How does one do that? What is the best product for that or is it only done by a professional. I've never done that before.
 
That's why I suggested using a dye stripper first to even out the discolouration - RIT makes dye stripper as well as dyes - just follow the directions. I have had the best luck with dying silk - it takes dye much better than anything else in my experience. Start with a light colour that matches the thread stitching. You can always go darker if that doesn't look good.
 
Jonathan said:
That's why I suggested using a dye stripper first to even out the discolouration - RIT makes dye stripper as well as dyes - just follow the directions. I have had the best luck with dying silk - it takes dye much better than anything else in my experience. Start with a light colour that matches the thread stitching. You can always go darker if that doesn't look good.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Jonathan. Will do!
 
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